Vegetarian hazelnut soup
By Brittney MacDonald, Life & Style Editor
Ingredients:
2 cups hazelnuts, roasted and skinned (you can get these pre-done at any organic food market)
1/4 cup diced raw hazelnuts
4 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp butter (use margarine to make this recipe vegan)
1/2 cup diced leeks
1 cup small peeled and diced parsnips
1 cup vegetable stock
Before you begin with this recipe, you will need two specific items—a cheese cloth, and a standing blender. You could probably use an immersion blender or a food processor as well, but I can’t guarantee how the soup’s texture will turn out, as I have never used either of them.
The first think you’ll need to do is make the base, which will be a hazelnut milk. To do this, soak the 2 cups of roasted and skinned hazelnuts in a large bowl with a little bit of salt. Leave at room temperature, covered, for 12 hours or overnight.
The next day, strain out the water and place the now softened hazelnuts in the blender with 2 cups of fresh water. Blend until it begins to look like slightly chunky milk.
Strain this through the cheese cloth, squeezing out as much of the liquid as you can into a bowl or measuring cup. You’ll want about 2 cups of the hazelnut milk.
The bits of hazelnut left in the cheese cloth can be composted or re-purposed for something else.
Set the hazelnut milk aside and begin melting the butter in a medium pot on medium to high heat.
Once the pot is warm, add the leeks. You want the leeks to become tender, but not browned, so stir them everyone so often.
Once done, mix in the hazelnut milk, vegetable stock, and parsnips. Cover the pot, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
Puree the soup in your blender, then re-heat on the stove if necessary. Serve and garnish each bowl with some of the chopped, raw hazelnuts.
